It's why I'm convinced that you're going to end up seeing continuous churn of social networks. Once the least hip people catch onto a social network, the hippest people are already gone. So the next hippest people follow to be with them, and so on. Lots of people want to hang with the cool kids, but the cool kids don't want to hang with them.

In the real world, we have mechanisms for dealing with that, like memberships of clubs/establishments, more expensive clubs, geographical locations. You can go to top restaurants and sit with celebrities and no-one is bothering them because most of the other people are also hugely successful people who are used to hanging with these people.

farkeruk:It's why I'm convinced that you're going to end up seeing continuous churn of social networks.

That's been the case for the past 20 years.

First there was Geocities/Angelfire. Then there was Livejournal. Then there was Tribe. Then there was Friendster. Then there was Myspace. Then there was Facebook...

Each one has a peak period of about 3-5 years before its users -- predominantly young people because they socialize the most -- grow up and realize that putting their lives online is bad for their careers, so then they shut up and get jobs. The next wave almost never follows up with the same network, and will invariably find a new one.

Facebook has had a bit of staying power because it somehow managed to become a replacement for email. Young people don't have email addresses anymore. You either gotta text them or message them on Facebook to contact them.

Going forward, what we're seeing now is the fragmentation of social communities into niches. Twitter for news, Flickr for photos, Tumblr/Pinterest for sharing crap found on the web, etc... more will come and go, each professing to be an essential convenience in how you conduct your social life, but I doubt we will ever see an all-in-one community like Facebook ever again.

Yep, my 17 year old daughter hasn't gone on FB regularly for the last couple of years. She told me she only keeps the account so she can post pictures every now and again for "the old folks in the family that live in different states. You know dad, the people around your age."

Who knew I raised such a comedian?

I had to tell her that I pretty much did the same thing about 5/6 years ago. Seems FB gave people I knew a platform to unleash their inner hatred and say things they never would out loud. I was reading posts that had a lot of racism, intolerance and some things probably put some of them on a watch list or two. I don't want to know people that well.

Even though everyone knows I don't read FB anymore, I still get yelled at because people send me messages I don't get. I don't have a FB app and I changed the email address to a junk one I never check.

Ishkur:farkeruk: It's why I'm convinced that you're going to end up seeing continuous churn of social networks.

That's been the case for the past 20 years.

First there was Geocities/Angelfire. Then there was Livejournal. Then there was Tribe. Then there was Friendster. Then there was Myspace. Then there was Facebook...

Each one has a peak period of about 3-5 years before its users -- predominantly young people because they socialize the most -- grow up and realize that putting their lives online is bad for their careers, so then they shut up and get jobs. The next wave almost never follows up with the same network, and will invariably find a new one.

Facebook has had a bit of staying power because it somehow managed to become a replacement for email. Young people don't have email addresses anymore. You either gotta text them or message them on Facebook to contact them.

Going forward, what we're seeing now is the fragmentation of social communities into niches. Twitter for news, Flickr for photos, Tumblr/Pinterest for sharing crap found on the web, etc... more will come and go, each professing to be an essential convenience in how you conduct your social life, but I doubt we will ever see an all-in-one community like Facebook ever again.

Which is kind of proof that gmail was ignored by the youth (as we Google+ by all those that have real-life friends)

Ishkur:farkeruk: It's why I'm convinced that you're going to end up seeing continuous churn of social networks.

That's been the case for the past 20 years.

First there was Geocities/Angelfire. Then there was Livejournal. Then there was Tribe. Then there was Friendster. Then there was Myspace. Then there was Facebook...

Each one has a peak period of about 3-5 years before its users -- predominantly young people because they socialize the most -- grow up and realize that putting their lives online is bad for their careers, so then they shut up and get jobs. The next wave almost never follows up with the same network, and will invariably find a new one.

Facebook has had a bit of staying power because it somehow managed to become a replacement for email. Young people don't have email addresses anymore. You either gotta text them or message them on Facebook to contact them.

Going forward, what we're seeing now is the fragmentation of social communities into niches. Twitter for news, Flickr for photos, Tumblr/Pinterest for sharing crap found on the web, etc... more will come and go, each professing to be an essential convenience in how you conduct your social life, but I doubt we will ever see an all-in-one community like Facebook ever again.

Ishkur:farkeruk: It's why I'm convinced that you're going to end up seeing continuous churn of social networks.

That's been the case for the past 20 years.

First there was Geocities/Angelfire. Then there was Livejournal. Then there was Tribe. Then there was Friendster. Then there was Myspace. Then there was Facebook...

Each one has a peak period of about 3-5 years before its users -- predominantly young people because they socialize the most -- grow up and realize that putting their lives online is bad for their careers, so then they shut up and get jobs. The next wave almost never follows up with the same network, and will invariably find a new one.

Facebook has had a bit of staying power because it somehow managed to become a replacement for email. Young people don't have email addresses anymore. You either gotta text them or message them on Facebook to contact them.

Going forward, what we're seeing now is the fragmentation of social communities into niches. Twitter for news, Flickr for photos, Tumblr/Pinterest for sharing crap found on the web, etc... more will come and go, each professing to be an essential convenience in how you conduct your social life, but I doubt we will ever see an all-in-one community like Facebook ever again.

Actually, what you're describing is an evolutionary trend, coupled with age-based obsolescence. Each of those sites improved, sometimes dramatically, on the previous, and offered a different set of features. Angelfire required the technical ability to set up a webpage (ok, kinda, given how crap most were). Myspace required a lot less space, but still, you had a 'page' to handle. Facebook removed that, streamlined the process even further, so that all you do is push a picture or two and your post/comments generate content for you.

And the age-based issue is really just that. Age-based. It's not really about 'not putting your life online' so much as the people who used angelfire moved on to either hosting actual websites, or contributing to existing ones. Myspace stopped getting used because facebook became popular, and was a better, less obnoxious, alternative.

Frankly, if we're going to predict the next iterative generations, it's going to be programs like snapchat and tinder/grinder/etc. which aren't 'social networks' at all, in the current sense.

Facebook is going to be around for a while... The question isnt just whether teenagers will use it - the question is also whether the people who are using it now willJump ship, and whether teenagers will change their minds when they get to be 20-something's. Unless somebody can overcome the inherent problem of a new social site - inputting all that data, finding friends again, having everybody on it - I don't see a big migration from those on it now to some other site, like what happened with MySpace. And I imagine that once teenagers grow up, and usefulness/efficiency replaces coolness as the reason to be on a website, they will stop snap chatting so much and spend a tad more time on Facebook.

Facebook doesn't need to be cool with the young kids to thrive anymore.. It's beyond that, which is why it has staying power the other niche sites don't.

I don't see much change in Facebook use. Most people use it as much as they ever did. Most people can figure out the one button 'unfollow' feature that let's them quietly ignore annoying users as well.Maybe next year guys.

fusillade762:Ishkur: farkeruk: It's why I'm convinced that you're going to end up seeing continuous churn of social networks.

That's been the case for the past 20 years.

First there was Geocities/Angelfire. Then there was Livejournal. Then there was Tribe. Then there was Friendster. Then there was Myspace. Then there was Facebook...

Each one has a peak period of about 3-5 years before its users -- predominantly young people because they socialize the most -- grow up and realize that putting their lives online is bad for their careers, so then they shut up and get jobs. The next wave almost never follows up with the same network, and will invariably find a new one.

Facebook has had a bit of staying power because it somehow managed to become a replacement for email. Young people don't have email addresses anymore. You either gotta text them or message them on Facebook to contact them.

Going forward, what we're seeing now is the fragmentation of social communities into niches. Twitter for news, Flickr for photos, Tumblr/Pinterest for sharing crap found on the web, etc... more will come and go, each professing to be an essential convenience in how you conduct your social life, but I doubt we will ever see an all-in-one community like Facebook ever again.

Where does Fark fit into that continuum?

As a hard core lurker I can say that as a news site Fark is great. I read about nation wide and world news stuff days earlier than in my local paper. The comments are just the icing.

Ok, I'll just publish all of my personal data, as well as information about my relationships with friends and family willingly so you can more effectively target ads toward us. This sounds like a great deal. Maybe you can put a camera in my crapper to more effectively advertise TP to me too.

Facebook is not going anywhere anytime soon, but consider this: the young crowd are the only ones the marketers really covet. Advertisers don't really care about your fat, old ass. You're set in your ways. You're less impressionable. You're not as sexy. They need young blood to feed upon.

sweatybronson:Facebook is going to be around for a while... The question isnt just whether teenagers will use it - the question is also whether the people who are using it now willJump ship, and whether teenagers will change their minds when they get to be 20-something's. Unless somebody can overcome the inherent problem of a new social site - inputting all that data, finding friends again, having everybody on it - I don't see a big migration from those on it now to some other site, like what happened with MySpace. And I imagine that once teenagers grow up, and usefulness/efficiency replaces coolness as the reason to be on a website, they will stop snap chatting so much and spend a tad more time on Facebook.

Facebook doesn't need to be cool with the young kids to thrive anymore.. It's beyond that, which is why it has staying power the other niche sites don't.

^ThisAlso FB has become a tool for lots of businesses and organizations and the users find it convenient to get the info from them pushed to their wall instead of remembering to go to their site to look it up.Kids will always be finding something new, it doesn't mean FB has gone the way of Myspace.

Ishkur:farkeruk: It's why I'm convinced that you're going to end up seeing continuous churn of social networks.

That's been the case for the past 20 years.

First there was Geocities/Angelfire. Then there was Livejournal. Then there was Tribe. Then there was Friendster. Then there was Myspace. Then there was Facebook...

Each one has a peak period of about 3-5 years before its users -- predominantly young people because they socialize the most -- grow up and realize that putting their lives online is bad for their careers, so then they shut up and get jobs. The next wave almost never follows up with the same network, and will invariably find a new one.

Facebook has had a bit of staying power because it somehow managed to become a replacement for email. Young people don't have email addresses anymore. You either gotta text them or message them on Facebook to contact them.

Going forward, what we're seeing now is the fragmentation of social communities into niches. Twitter for news, Flickr for photos, Tumblr/Pinterest for sharing crap found on the web, etc... more will come and go, each professing to be an essential convenience in how you conduct your social life, but I doubt we will ever see an all-in-one community like Facebook ever again.

You know, your posts and dumbass pictures live on most social media forever so some dumb shiat you say when you're young or just farking around with your friends can come back to haunt you or destroy your career for the rest of your life.

If younger folks are eschewing the most mainstream social media I think that's a good sign. An indication of some good sense in the next generation.

Facebook managed to capture the demo those two never could (adults) and become a utility of sorts. It's a huge part of every major mobile OS (Windows Phone even has in baked into its messenger) and has the backing of companies like Microsoft, who have a vested interest to see it succeed.

gingerjet:Old enough to know better: Ah yes. "FB is over". Brought to you by the same people who tell us that PC's are dead.

Facebook isn't over. But PCs are dead. You have to be blind to not see that.

/unless of course you are Microsoft and define PC as being anything with a CPU in it

No, you just have to have a job that requires one or want to occasionally see a video on a screen that isn't smaller than two dog turds laid next to each other in parallel.

All of those "apps"? Those are programmed on desktop or laptop computers. The web infrastructure that makes all of those "cloud" programs that make mobile OSes not complete pieces of crap? Also more easily maintained from a "PC".

I mean, if you want to design, implement, and maintain a database from your Galaxy S4, you can, but you should put away a little of your salary for the antipsychotics that will be used to treat the mental disorders such activities are known to beckon.

Facebook managed to capture the demo those two never could (adults) and become a utility of sorts. It's a huge part of every major mobile OS (Windows Phone even has in baked into its messenger) and has the backing of companies like Microsoft, who have a vested interest to see it succeed.

Facebook isn't going anywhere.

Facebook is a public company now. They must increase revenues every quarter. Facebook will continue to create methods to extract more revenue from users and advertisers. Eventually Facebook will become Red Lobster/Olive Garden.

fusillade762:Ishkur: farkeruk: It's why I'm convinced that you're going to end up seeing continuous churn of social networks.

That's been the case for the past 20 years.

First there was Geocities/Angelfire. Then there was Livejournal. Then there was Tribe. Then there was Friendster. Then there was Myspace. Then there was Facebook...

Each one has a peak period of about 3-5 years before its users -- predominantly young people because they socialize the most -- grow up and realize that putting their lives online is bad for their careers, so then they shut up and get jobs. The next wave almost never follows up with the same network, and will invariably find a new one.

Facebook has had a bit of staying power because it somehow managed to become a replacement for email. Young people don't have email addresses anymore. You either gotta text them or message them on Facebook to contact them.

Going forward, what we're seeing now is the fragmentation of social communities into niches. Twitter for news, Flickr for photos, Tumblr/Pinterest for sharing crap found on the web, etc... more will come and go, each professing to be an essential convenience in how you conduct your social life, but I doubt we will ever see an all-in-one community like Facebook ever again.

Where does Fark fit into that continuum?

Fark was the subject of the same process, but with news aggregators. As twenty-somethings eventually have to spend their time on work and kids and other stuff, they leave news aggregators while teens with too much time find news aggregators to suck up their time. Fark is basically like Friendster where it got "killed off" by a newer site (Myspace/Digg) that also got killed off, but it still exists and still has a few people visiting it.

I use it as a glorified email account. My older relatives (parents and grandparents) keep asking me to post pics of their grand/great grand kids but I refuse to put pics of them online - a photo posted online is there forever and you lose all control over it immediately.

I'm not really sure how it's still going to be a thing in a few years time, particularly given the contempt they seem to have for their users privacy.

Facebook managed to capture the demo those two never could (adults) and become a utility of sorts. It's a huge part of every major mobile OS (Windows Phone even has in baked into its messenger) and has the backing of companies like Microsoft, who have a vested interest to see it succeed.

Facebook isn't going anywhere.

Facebook is a public company now. They must increase revenues every quarter. Facebook will continue to create methods to extract more revenue from users and advertisers. Eventually Facebook will become Red Lobster/Olive Garden.

You mean that highly-successful chain with a shiat ton of stores across the US (and maybe Canada)?

Facebook is a public company now. They must increase revenues every quarter. Facebook will continue to create methods to extract more revenue from users and advertisers. Eventually Facebook will become Red Lobster/Olive Garden.

That's the rub for the Facebook. There's a limit to how far "tell me personal info so I can fed you ads" can take you, and social networks online can collapse in a hurry. Facebook is one Facebook import tool away from that speedy collapse.

cendojr:Facebook is a public company now. They must increase revenues every quarter. Facebook will continue to create methods to extract more revenue from users and advertisers. Eventually Facebook will become Red Lobster/Olive Garden.

That's the rub for the Facebook. There's a limit to how far "tell me personal info so I can fed you ads" can take you, and social networks online can collapse in a hurry. Facebook is one Facebook import tool away from that speedy collapse.

Import to what, though?

Google tried. Google. You know, those guys who shiat gold turds just by virtue of turning everything to gold with their touch and the turd touching their buttcheeks on the way out?

The only way Facebook would be taken down is with a service that doesn't rely on ads and personal information. That means a for-pay business model, and after getting it for free for so long, I doubt many people will pay for the ability to have an online portal to their lives. I mean, they'd be able to control everything, but that in and of itself is its own job.